Millions of children, especially those in a younger grade level, are being misdiagnosed with ADHD, according to a recent study.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that “is thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that affects attention, concentration and impulsivity. However, as these core symptoms are often considered normal behaviour, especially in younger children, many experts have argued that many children are being misdiagnosed with the disorder.
“The problem with being a child today in America, compared to 20 or 30 years ago, is that if you are different, if you are agitated, if you are extremely active, you will fall under the gaze of the “helping professions,” said David Cohen, MD.
In the U.S., there is an unusual dependency on prescription medication, which has resulted in the current epidemic of opioid overdoses in adults. However, despite the evidence that supports this pressing issue, there has been an astronomical rise children’s prescription medication—particularly the kind that is used to treat ADHD.
In fact, as highlighted by the documentary, The Drugging of Our Children, between 1995 and 2000, the number of psychotropic drugs prescribed to children doubled. Teachers and school authorities that have used the diagnosis of ADHD to drug children into “proper” behavior is one of the many driving factors of this rise.
According to the psychiatric handbook, ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders, the most powerful symptom of ADHD is when a child “often fidgets with hands and feet or squirms in seat.”
Therefore, when a teacher notices that a child is “fidgeting,” acting “impulsively” and is displaying sigs of “inattention” in their work—which can be considered normal behaviour for children, especially young children—the teacher has the power to initiate a psychiatric evaluation.
While many of the children that are diagnosed with ADHD do genuainly suffer from the disorder, this recent study suggests that a large percentage of the children that have been diagnosed with ADHD have been misdiagnosed.
As part of the study, which was published in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers collected data on 378,881 children between the ages of 4 and 17. After examining the data, the researchers found that the youngest children in a grade level were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD or receive ADHD prescribed medication when compared with older children in the same grade.
According to the research:
“When looking at the database as a whole, children born in August were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and/or receive ADHD medication than those born in September. When broken down and analyzed according to age, only preschool or elementary school-aged children born in August had an increased risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication. However, adolescents born in August did not have an increased risk of ADHD diagnosis. This may imply that increasing age and maturity lessens the impact of birth month on ADHD diagnoses.”
Behavorial changes in young children rapidly change within a small period of time. Therefore, A five-year, 1-month old kid often has very different temperamental levels than a five-year, 11-month old kid, reports the Free Thought Project. As a result, when a teacher recommends a psychiatric evaluation, they have likely compared that child to one of the older students in that same class.
More than 6 million are given prescription medication—such as Ritalin and other amphetamines—before going to school every morning. The side effects of these drugs can include weight loss, liver problems and suicidal thoughts.
“Relative age, as an indicator of neurocognitive maturity, is crucial in the risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication among children and adolescents. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the age of a child within a grade when diagnosing ADHD and prescribing medication for treating ADHD, ” the study explains.
“Relative age, as an indicator of neurocognitive maturity, is crucial in the risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving ADHD medication among children and adolescents. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering the age of a child within a grade when diagnosing ADHD and prescribing medication for treating ADHD, ” the study explains.
In the past, many other medical conditions have been mistaken for ADHD, leading the child to be misdiagnosed and insufficiently treated. For instance, when a child is exposed to PCBs, polyvinyl chlorides and lead, they can display the same symptoms of ADHD. The Free Thought Project reports that after a five-year-old girl was diagnosed with ADHD, it was later discovered that her allergies were responsible for her symptoms.
It is therefore hoped that this latest study will discourage medical experts, teachers and parents from jumping to conclusions and comparing a child’s behavior to that of their older classmates. By misdiagnosing children with ADHD and prescribing psychotropic drugs in an effort to make the child more complainant, children are not receiving the medical assistance they actually require.
Feature Image: Wikimedia Commons, Kate Lapine
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